Key takeaways
This March, we teamed up with SIGMA to bring the NYC creative community together for an unforgettable pop-up celebrating the launch of the radically simple SIGMA BF Camera. The event drove incredible foot traffic into the SIGMA store — and strengthened our Parasol Membership program in the process.
The SIGMA pop-up took a fresh approach to community engagement, with stunning work from renowned photographers and hands-on presentations packed with pro tips for aspiring creators. SIGMA's commitment to inspiring and empowering the creative community resonated deeply with us — so much so that it sparked an idea.
We invited the New York community and Parasol Members to a complimentary photoshoot session with photographer Eloise Scoley. Our goal was to give back to the creative scene, one headshot at a time — and if that meant capturing over 50 portraits, challenge accepted.
For the entire event, the line outside SIGMA's store at 21 Spring Street never stopped. Actors, creatives, and even folks on their lunch break jumped at the chance to get a professional headshot at zero cost. "This is incredible. I've always wanted to get a headshot, but it's just too expensive," one participant shared. Moments like these remind us why we do what we do.
This event was also the perfect opportunity to introduce our Parasol Membership Wallet Card. For the past year we've been growing our Membership — a thriving community of NYC pop-up lovers who get exclusive invites, event updates, and freebies. With the Wallet Card, members receive instant text notifications when they're near a pop-up, so they never miss out.
By the end of the event, over 50 new members had signed up on the spot. We met so many incredible creatives — some even stayed late to film the event, test SIGMA's cameras, and connect with fellow artists.
We analysed attendee demographics to better understand our audience. The gender breakdown revealed that 71.9% of participants were female and 28.1% male — the free headshots event proved particularly appealing to women in the creative community, pointing to an opportunity for future pop-ups catering to female-identifying artists and influencers.
The age distribution showed the largest group (30 attendees) fell within the 25–34 range, followed by 13 aged 35–44 — young professionals and mid-career creatives were the most engaged demographic, with smaller participation from younger (18–24) and older (45+) groups. It's exactly the kind of engaged, highly social audience brands can reach by activating with our Membership community.
The SIGMA activation is a template any brand can run with us: give our members a genuine, free experience and you reach a creative, highly engaged NYC audience — while generating content and growing your own community.
Explore our spaces, learn about our marketing services, or get in touch to plan a members-only activation.